What Can the Paris Olympics Do For Saint-Denis?

The 1900 Olympic Games were the brainchild of Pierre de Coubertain, a Parisian and founder of the International Olympic Committee. Held in tandem with the World’s Fair that same year, it brought Paris new massive infrastructure additions, including monuments and buildings that are now architectural treasures such as the Grand and Petit Palais.

Spanning from May to October with no opening or closing ceremonies, the Games only slightly resembled the international spectacle we know today. One similarity: No lack of criticism. “The whole series of sports produced nothing but muddles, bad arrangements, bad management, bad prizes, and any amount of ill-feeling amongst the various nationalities engaged,” lamented The Field, a British sports publication at the time. Disorganization was rampant. Some events featured teams made up of competitors of different nationalities or were granted Olympic status so late that participating athletes didn’t even know they had competed in an official event.